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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF THE UO$sub 2$ FUEL ELEMENT SYSTEM. Quarterly Report for June 1, 1960-August 31, 1960

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4127941
Vibratory Compaction. The vibratory-compaction apparatus was modified by the addition of a second high-impact vibrator and vibration-metering equipment. Densities in excess of 90% of theoretical are attainable on a reproducible basis. Some specimens with densities above 91% of theoretical were produced, but tube- wall yielding and bending were sometimes observed at these densities. Some specimens were swaged as a secondary operation to improve the final fuel-rod density. Reductions from 2 to 8% were made. Rock-Rite Elements. A process was developed for producing UO/sub 2/ fuel rcds by the Rock-Rite tubereducing process. A final series of 39 rods was produced in order to gather dath for a cost analysis and a dimensional-control survey. A cost analysis was performed showing the estimated production costs of 1000 4-ft-long and 1000 8-ft-long fuel rods. Progressive Layer Assembly. Several clusters were produced as a fina1 step in the demonstration of feasibility of the progressive-layer welding concept. Both triangular and square lattices were produced. New welding dies were fabricated with the object of producing welds with tightly controlled weld penetration and setdown plus reproducible dimensional control. Initial results with the new dies indicate some progress. Reduction of Cladding Thickness. Test objectives and procedures were developed to extend the scope and breadth of the previous reported experiments. Performance Characteristics of UO/sub 2/ Fuel Elements. A study was initiated to find the maximum sintering temperature of fused UO/sub 2/ . (auth)
Research Organization:
Combustion Engineering, Inc. Nuclear Div., Windsor, Conn.
NSA Number:
NSA-15-000518
OSTI ID:
4127941
Report Number(s):
CEND-99; NYO-9009
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English